9 Comments

I still on occasion listen to The Beatles, early Rolling Stones, The Who, Procul Harum and others.

Expand full comment

To me, everything that people want to hear in Hotel California is really on their next album, the generally hated The Long Run. I think it's their best thematically -- it captures a band at the end of its rope, with a dark and nihilistic view of everything they previously celebrated. It foreshadows the icy cocaine blues of the '80s, cut with a chaser of Miami Vice cool, it rocks more than Hotel California and on the best song, "King of Hollywood," Henley and Frey see both Harvey Weinstein and a certain freshly minted felon coming on a slow train 'round the bend. Check it out.

Expand full comment

Your description of 'The Long Run' has me intrigued for sure.

Expand full comment

Interesting column. I can’t argue with much. For my money Poco was the better band. They didn’t have the names other than Richie Furay for Buffalo Springfield fans, Paul Cotton, and then Timothy B. Schmidt who would join The Eagles.

Expand full comment

That was fun! I learned a bunch about the history of the Eagles (and Joe Walsh), and I appreciate that you aren't shy about your opinion.

The final line reminds me that I think of Left Frizzell's "She's Gone Gone Gone" as a near-perfect song, and a good example that song lyrics don't need to be complicated to be well written. In that case every line is, essentially, a simple declarative statement of fact, and yet it's great songwriting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcg9ybnyb5s

Expand full comment

Glad you liked Tim's essay!

Expand full comment

The way I always thought of it was that the Eagles chewed far more than they bit off. I'm not a lyrics guy, but musically it was the same. We know they had the chops to play more interesting music, but they cynically chose not to because the formula was working, at least financially. Talk about punching below your weight! Great column.

Expand full comment

I appreciate Tim allowing to share this with my readers.

Expand full comment

You underscore some of the reasons that I gave up listening to rock n' roll in the mid 1970's and got into disco. Did I just admit that? Rock for me had run its course. What I was really looking for in disco was African music. Manu Dibango was the first African artist that I came across. By chance I was fortunate to travel to Guadeloupe in the early 1990's and found a music that changed everything i.e. zouk and cadence. From there I met a West African DJ in NYC who introduced me to the music of Lusophone Africa. I have never looked back. I still love Brazilian, older pre-Castro Cuban music, SOCA and jazz.

Expand full comment